Certain airplanes are provided with a system that serves, when circumstances make this necessary, to dump quickly the fuel contained in the tanks. Such a system is referred to as a jettisoning system. The terms “fuel dumping” and “fuel jettisoning” are in widespread use.
In order to ensure that the jettisoning circuit is operating properly, it is necessary to subject it to leak testing. Testing then consists in putting both the circuit and the tank under pressure by means of an air-helium mixture, e.g. at a nominal pressure of 350 hectopascals (hPa).
It is therefore desirable to have a device that enables the jettisoning circuit to be shut by being fitted to the outlet from the circuit, that enables the pressure that exists inside the circuit to be viewed, and that also enables the circuit to be vented after leak testing has been terminated.
Such a device should be capable of being used on airplane assembly lines and also in workshops that handle airplanes having tanks and fuel circuits that have already received kerosene. That is why such tooling needs to comply with regulatory requirements, in particular with standards relating to non-electric tooling suitable for use in an explosive zone. Thus, the device must make it possible to shut the jettisoning circuit while ensuring that it is properly sealed so as to avoid any risk of fuel being accidentally discharged.
In addition, the device must not damage the metal portions of the airplane. In this respect, a problem that arises when making such a device stems from the outlet configuration of the jettisoning circuit on certain airplanes. This outlet forms a sleeve having an outlet in which it is necessary to insert the device in order to establish sealing between the inside of the sleeve and the device. Nevertheless, the sleeve presents fastening rivets that project into the inside of the sleeve so as to define a passage of a size that is smaller than the size of the zone located beyond the rivets and with which the device is to establish sealing. It is therefore necessary to have a device that can go past the rivets without damaging them, and then establish satisfactory sealing in the following zone.